The Low Elo Experience

It’s far too late on a Tuesday night. Why are you awake?

You’re awake because over the past week or so you’ve been in a constant ping pong match between Silver I and Silver II…

You win a few games and get promoted only to lose the next two and get your sorry tail slapped right back into Silver II.

That’s fine. Getting out of Silver will just feel that much better when you have the Silver scars across your face and some stories to tell…

And tonight is different.

You’re on a hot streak. You and your duo queue buddy are ready to escape Silver and absolutely dominated in your last game to get to Silver I.

You can hear a voice from within your soul telling you that something special is going to happen. This time will be different. It has to be.

And this time IS different…

Meet Troll Kench:

Mr. Kench doesn’t begin as a troll, of course. Some kind of event has to trigger it. It’s how all trolls operate. He sits on the edge of a cliff, teeter-tottering back and forth, just waiting for a mild gust of wind to sway him too far one way.

What is the gust of wind this time?

The classic order: two quick 1v1 deaths and a failed gank in top lane.

This is common in low-elo.

The top-laner brings Flash/Ignite against his match-up, ready to tilt them into oblivion with an early lead. Unfortunately the level 2 all-in doesn’t go as planned.

0/1/0.

Frustrated, they return to an empty lane after the long trek from the Nexus with another couple of health potions. As they arrive the enemy top laner teleports in and immediately ints.

0/2/0.

This is where the ping spam begins as question marks flood the minimap over your jungler who is walking out of base following his first clear.

A few seconds later a friendly “I’m on my way” ping appears in the top lane.

After another 15 seconds you hear it… the dreaded “double kill.”

0/3/0.

You note to your partner that this is not the ideal position to be just five minutes into the match. You both let out a chuckle… but you each hear the exhausted strain in each other’s laugh.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kench is in free-fall. Five minutes ago he was just like everyone else. And now he’s a monster.

After respawning he begins to take his frustrations out on our jungle creeps.

Then some time after clearing our top-side jungle the weather begins to get cold and he decides to head in as the enemy top-laner smashes away at turret plates just a few yards away.

HA! What a goof…

Luckily, it seems like he’s had his fun and he’s back in the zone as he heads toward the bottom lane to help secure a double kill to get us right back in it.

But, you see, this is where a troll truly shines…

When the situation is near perfect and your trust in them hasn’t disintegrated fully yet — this is when Mr. Kench truly evolves into Troll Kench.

You have to admit that tower dive was pretty sweet. Mark “Dives & Dies” on your troll bingo boards.

While our team fights back the early gold deficit, Kench has returned to his previous ways.

Can you blame him? I mean, I can. But can you?

My partner and I are just continuing as if the Tahm Kench is simply making confusing but necessary moves to get back into the game.

When you’re only 10 minutes into a game that’s beginning to derail you have to do what you can to keep your brain from melting after all…

Despite this we know we still have a horse in this race. A bruised, three-legged horse but a participant none-the-less.

We continue to fight the enemy hoping that Kench will see the treachery in his ways and begin the climb back up the cliff he fell down.

Not quite yet.

In fact, his skills as a troll have actually increased. He has evolved beyond the usual “FF20” chat spam or simply walking straight down mid lane and dying to the enemy turret.

It’s genius, really. A true saboteur.

I would not be surprised to find that he was an undercover agent for the enemy team.

Truly next level.

And yet our team did not give in to his 15-minute surrender vote. Why?

Certainly part of this was pure pettiness. In our minds I’m certain we all felt the same way…

If we agree to surrender on a vote called by the menace himself then we let him win.

That simply cannot happen.

The other part is that we are naive, low-elo players just trying to make it in the rough world of ranked queue.

We fight on.

And look, Tahm Kench is… kinda helping?

That vision will be instrumental in our comeback story.

I wish I could tell you that despite Troll Kench’s attempts we were able to survive and miraculously win a big team fight to inch our way back…

Or that Tahm Kench eventually saw the error in his ways and figured out how to help us win.

But the reality is that we were always destined to lose once Mr. Kench revealed himself as Troll Kench.

I have to hand it to him though…

He maintained his strategy through the entirety of the match. Something that I often struggle with as a low-elo player myself.

As we head into the post-game lobby we prepare to salvage what’s left of our diminished sanity.

“Please report Kench,” we pleaded. “Intentional feeding.”

I quip, “One day he could be your teammate.”

A sound argument, in my opinion, if arguing is even necessary for such a flagrant show of trolling.

This is where a different kind of troll reveals himself. High on his four-legged horse he raises one eyebrow while hoisting his winner’s cup over his shoulder.

The enemy top-laner, who now believes himself to be a top-tier god amongst lowly Silver-ranked peasants, offers his opinion on our plea.

“Why? He tried to stay in it through the end,” he argues. “GG Kench.”

I’d like to say that I maintained my cool, recognized that this was trolling, and left the lobby.

I did not.

You see, at this point my mental stamina was drained and I already decided I was too tilted and tired to continue playing. The least I could do is win a petty fight in the post-game lobby comments of a low-elo match.

Very foolish, I know. My partner, stronger willed than I, left the lobby.

After mashing my keyboard for several seconds the lobby begins to empty. Before I can even tap my enter key and let loose the furious dragon that was my message the Troll Kench and enemy top-laner leave…

And so I tell my friend goodbye, hop off Discord, and walk up my stairs to go to bed. There are seldom happy stories in low-elo…

But I guess that’s what makes getting out of it so damn satisfying.

I originally posted this as a Reddit post you can find here: https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/nmxsi3/the_low_elo_experience/